Blog #3 - The Hypocrites & The Ridiculous

What is an Ad Hominem?

-         Ad Hominems are a general category of fallacious arguments which repudiate a claim by attacking the person presenting the claim. “He is an idiot; hence everything he says is idiotic”. It’s basically a convenient overgeneralization.

-         The quality of claim is independent of the man presenting them, thus the actions, circumstances or character of person  should not be a concern while assessing an argument

 

How can I believe a person if he himself doesn’t believe what he says?

-         The fact that a person is a hypocrite doesn’t prove that his claims are false.

-         It might also have happened that they now make a claim which is inconsistent or even contradictory to their earlier claims (change of heart). In such a case only one of the claims can be true. But, this is not an excuse for rejecting both of them or simply choosing the one which is convenient to you.

 

Why do people behave inconsistently with their logic?

-         Well, for one they might just be hypocrites :P 

-         But, mostly it’s because we humans are emotion rationalizers. We do things which give us emotional payoffs (either short term or long term) and then we rationalise that through a web of beliefs. Often, we are in situations wherein a behaviour expected from others is opposite of the ones we would like to pursue ourselves. Hence, the hypocrisy, it not really intentional.

-         It’s not a bad thing, it’s only human. No matter how rational we claim ourselves to be, we are emotional beings.

-         If you can transcend it, have a great life living alone J

 

Why do we abhor it and still keep on doing it?

-         Well for one, we are social; none of us is able to fulfil all our needs. A lot of our needs especially the emotional ones can only be fulfilled by other humans when they behave in a manner that gives us pleasure, but their expectations might be different. This “hypocrisy” is a way we lubricate our relationships with others.

-         The system is self-reinforcing, because as we make public our beliefs, we are expected to behave in consistency with them. Our behaviour is always watched and if any of our acts is against what is expected of us. We are asked to be consistent our beliefs or be labelled a Hypocrite, because it is really really bad to be a hypocrite. :P.

-         Often, you will see bawlers; these people you will often see shouting and reiterating their belief system and at least in social settings, trying to act quite consistent to it. You see a lot people turning into bawlers after getting drunk. “I *hic* am the kind of *hic* person….” Get the drill?

 

Who is a rebel?

-         Aah, the rebel. Well rebels are a type of bawlers. On the whole not a very cool one either. Rebels are people to whom the system hasn’t been very kind

-         Not that it is the system’s fault. They are often quite ignorant of the implicit workings of the system and thus land up committing gaffes, which others take advantage of. Resolved to take revenge. They bawl, they bawl against the system. They create a contradictory set of beliefs only to be trapped in the same system again.

-         The same cycle starts all over again. Ever wondered how once Rock was the rebel’s music, and all of the sudden there a rebel against the rebel, Punk rock. There was bawler music Metal and when that bawl wasn’t loud enough there was Death Metal.

-         This goes way beyond music, Just used the example because art is a mirror of what is happening in the society

 

When is this wrong?

-         Absolutely critical question. This is wrong when a few people begin to use system for personal gains. Being in situations of power, they get to mould the situations in their favour.

-         If a claim is made that is not convenient to them, they shoot it down with ridicule. Ridicule is one of the most effective ways of annihilating logic. And we all think, “well gee it leads to such absurd results, how can it be true?” “Damn, I can’t even control my laughter; you just say anything don’t you?”

-         Open your mind to the ridiculous. Yes, there will be people out there who you can ignore. People whom it’s not worth wasting your time on. But they might just be saying the right thing. The thing that can change your life

-         Are you willing to let a little ego let that great chance go by?

 

Where do I start?

-         Now, this is the tough part. You will have to be willing to listen.

-         I know, I know, Listening can be a pain in the @$. Why bother listening to somebody else when you can hear yourself listen and other people can listen to you. You are the genius after all.  ;)

-         Listening is the best skill you can develop, because not only will you find that other people can think from different perspectives, they might also have thought of things you forgot.

-         Besides, it can be great source of power. I know, when others listen to you, you feel all smart and stuff, but listen if you want that feeling to be real and sustainable.